Tag Archives: Mark Zuckerberg

84% of your Facebook Fans Won’t See Your Page Posts

Facebook made a major move to increase revenue recently with Promoted Posts (not the same as a Facebook ad). If you have a Facebook Page for your business, you may have noticed that your Page stats (number of new fans, reach and frequency, etc) have been edging southward. For example, a typical Page post might have garnered a couple of hundred views on a fan base of 800 with a moderately engaged audience and above-average content several months ago. That same Page is seeing reach numbers in the double digits (i.e. 63 views).

I just completed a Facebook Page Promoted Posts test in which I updated the same post about an upcoming C3 LinkedIn Training class as a regular post and as a Promoted post. I found a major difference in organic and viral reach with the paid post (much higher!). In fact, the Promoted Post (a mere $5 outlay) brought in 851% more total views than the non-promoted post with identical content. I had zero viral reach for the non-promoted post, only organic (original) Page fans, while the Promoted post had several hundred viral viewers. (Check this out for information on the difference between organic, viral and paid reach.) Post analytics will also point out how many of the views were paid views. It’s interesting that my organic views (original fans) were much higher than the non-promoted organic views for the post, emphasizing the point that Facebook adjusted the Edgerank algorithm to allow more of my current fan base to see the post in their news feed as when the post was not promoted.

It’s really too bad that Page owners won’t be able to use Edgerank to drive frequency and reach with engaging content as they could prior to FB’s current quest to drive monetization.

I think this will have a huge effect on small businesses. Every business, regardless of size, will need to set aside part of their marketing budget to allocate to Facebook advertising or risk having only 16% of their user base see posts shared by the Page.

If this sounds like Farsi to you, then perhaps a Facebook Page Marketing consult should be in your future. We are happy to get your business/organization up to speed on the recent changes to Facebook Page Marketing. Just contact us here.

CAN YOUR CUSTOMERS FIND YOU ON FACEBOOK?

Even if your business or organization has a Facebook Page, are you truly leveraging Facebook Marketing capabilities to create a dynamic Fan base that drives customers/clients to action? Are you on top of the many changes Facebook has made over the past few weeks that could affect your Page?

Announcing the Facebook Page Marketing for Businesses and Organizations Workshop, a hands-on computer lab class that will allow you to work with YOUR Facebook Page to learn how to fully optimize settings, create content and foster engagement as we discuss strategies that are unique for your business.

Facebook Marketing has exploded and is being used by corporate brands, small businesses and non-profits all over the world to connect with and engage their clients and customers. Gain the competitive edge by learning how to leverage this important social networking tool. Don’t just have a Page in name, have a Page that builds community and becomes a destination point for your fans!

Laptops will be provided for the workshop and participants will receive a training manual. Group discussion surrounding strategy for each participant’s industry is also included and has been cited by previous participants as a very helpful component of the workshop.

Rapid changes to social networking platforms have occurred recently that can leave your personal brand a bit naked on the web. Today’s post focuses on Facebook Privacy Settings and the steps you can take to apply a “digital fig leaf” (thanks Don Sceifers!) to your online brand. Facebook rolled out some changes in December 2010 that capitalize on the prodigious use of photo-sharing and the interconnections of each person’s social graph.

Facebook users upload thousands of photos/month which are affected by these new releases:

The new profile layout for personal pages includes a series of five photos across the top of the page below your name and any personal information you have shared (city, schools, birthday, etc.). While many have seen the new profile in action as the release continues to roll out, what you might not realize is that the pictures selected are the last five tagged pictures of you. So in other words, one of the first things that people will see, are five pictures that are connected to you that you may not have even uploaded.

Michelle Beckham of C3:Creating Connections Consulting

Facebook is employing facial recognition software to suggest tags (individual names) for people present in uploaded photos. This becomes a feature automatically for all users as the roll out progresses and you must opt-out of the service to prevent friends from using this feature on photos of or about you.

What you can do to edit privacy settings for each of the new releases:

CC Chapman’s ( speaker, author, digital marketer) 12/15/10 blog post : “Nice Guys Get Paid Too” addresses the growing phenomenon of people seeking out industry knowledge holders to siphon off their expertise for free. Whether it’s an individual, a company or a group seeking a keynote speaker, the trend seems to be that information is not a product to be purchased, but rather something to be shared and passed around freely. Chapman notes that numerous conferences offer no remuneration for speaking services, nor travel expense reimbursement, claiming that the mere appearance of an audience should lead to increased business for said speaker.

Chapman mentions that often the individual or small group offer is to meet for a cup of coffee or for a beer at a local pub which he refers to as “Pint-Consulting”. While many folks in the social/digital field are extremely giving of their time and knowledge, they simply can’t be a veritable public library for the removal of information on a 24/7 basis.

What I want to address here in this space are those individuals and small companies who are in the “Pint Consulting” camp and those individuals who are not even tuned in enough to be part of that group. How many times have you been approached by someone who basically wants you to do a core-dump over the phone for them?

I believe in giving back to the community and count myself as one of the more generous souls out there (to the consternation of my financial advisor!), but even I have had to draw the line. As CC states:

“I make a living as a consultant, speaker and creator. In order to continue doing that, I must be paid for the services I offer.”

Here are some tips for parties on both sides of the coin:

Seeking a Knowledge Consultant:

Be brief and to the point- explain what you are looking for.

Offer how this might help the consultant.

Treat them to lunch or dinner (come on, not coffee!) and allow for general overviews on your questions.

Want deeper info? – Pay for an hour of their tim.e

Need a speaker? Be up front about what you can offer: fee, gift certificate, notoriety…

Knowledge Consultant:

Choose your speaking engagements wisely. A good friend and 5- figure speaker gave me some great tips years ago. She chooses her engagements based on these factors:

Fees- does it meet her requirements, including travel expenses?

If not: – Will the audience be made up of potential clients?

Is the conference notable? Would it look good on your resume to have spoken here?

Is the venue or city enticing? Does it offer some other value to you?

Don’t feel that you have to give away the farm. Set a limit on the time or amount of information that you are willing to share. I have met with quite a few people over coffee who took pages upon pages of copious notes on everything I said to them…..and never offered to pick up the tab for my single cup of java.

Set a limit to your pro-bono efforts per month.

Offer folks a chance to sign up to meet with you for a free consult.

Choose a venue that is most convenient for you and set a time limit to your meeting.

I recall seeing one digital marketer solve this “Pint Consulting” situation by inviting individuals and companies to sign up for a couple of monthly slots on his web-site that involved taking him out to lunch for the chance to completely pick his brain for those 90 minutes. This put a limit on his pro-bono, gave people a fair and equal chance to meet with him for the cost of a lunch and also gave him their coveted email addys so that he could continue to connect with them through his newsletter, etc.

Hopefully this post will raise awareness on both sides of the coin.

Knowledge is Power.

Knowledge has Value.

CC Chapman says it best:

“So, the next time you think about reaching out to someone to pick their brain or to give them exposure so your company/event/organization can make money, stop and realize that they need to make some as well.”

Remember the dream you had long ago; the one that was set aside because life got in the way? Perhaps it has remained a spark burning within the deep recesses of your soul. Every once in a while you may capture a glimpse of it before the light returns to a flicker. Why not expose that spark and fan it into reality? Why not put your feet onto the path that is your life purpose? If not today, then when?

News headlines blatantly tell us that tomorrow is not guaranteed. There is only now, this very minute. What have you got to lose?

I attended the “Imagine…then do it!” event put on by my friend and business collaborator, Julie Shiffman of Act Three today. Julie brought together nearly 250 women to hear the stories of successful women who followed their dreams and passions to make a difference in the world. Listening to the amazing speakers:

Shevaun Voisin, publisher of the international business magazine, Motivated

I was struck by the singular voice that emanated from these women with diverse stories admonishing us to say YES to the opportunities that unfold along our path. Sometimes the tiny voice in our head becomes our worst opponent; the voice that says: ‘not now’, ‘too old’, ‘too young’ ‘too difficult’.

It’s the end of the world as we know it…….

Perhaps I’m being a bit melodramatic here, but I certainly feel a cosmic shift due to Mark Zuckerberg’s launch of the new Groups tool on Facebook. Membership in various Groups (all professional at this point) is thrusting my personal Facebook profile out on the world for all to see.

Because “Friends” can automatically add me to a group, due to their personal connection with my private profile, I am now visible to others in the group. Yes, I can remove myself from the group and receive this pop-up nasty-gram from Facebook that makes me think twice about hitting the ‘remove’ button. But these groups are extensions of organizations that I am a part of in RL and virtually on LinkedIn.

Leaving a Facebook Group

Why so paranoid? While I have many friends who claim they maintain a combo persona on social media sites (Personal/Professional) and spout rhetoric that this practice makes them completely authentic and transparent. I disagree. These self-avowed combo profiles read more like professional profiles to me. Their personal comments, status updates and choice of links all scream professional and industry-related content.

My personal profile talks about real things in my life:

My family

My church/faith

My friends from 4th grade

High school antics

Correspondence with relatives that I never knew

Pictures of my children’s awards/first day of school/braces removal

My poetry

My short stories which can be shocking

My fail moments

and yes, some industry posts & links

I wouldn’t wish my personal profile on my worst enemy! My friends, family, and close colleagues put up with me, or at least dial me down in the Facebook algorithm. Some of the stuff I say is what you would say to your best friend at a back-yard BBQ and NOT what you would necessarily say to the CEO of P&G at a business dinner. There is a DIFFERENCE!

And that, my dear Blog friends, is the critical disparity to which I will not acquiesce. I want you to know about what’s going on in the realm of social media; how it’s revolutionizing the way we communicate and interact with each other and the repercussions that we will reap in the future. I don’t think you give a flip that I’m a former PTO School Board Secretary and Girl Scout Leader and that my daughter scored a perfect 99th% on her high-school entrance exam.

So the cultural shift for me is that my Facebook personal profile which has been hidden from Search Engines and within the Facebook platform search (except for Facebook Friends) and even has the ‘Send Me A Message’ option disabled, is now being found by many ‘Friends of Friends’ within these Facebook Groups. And I now have the unenviable task of explaining why I won’t accept a Friend request.

If you want to connect with me on Facebook, I invite you to find me here on my FB Business Page or join me on LinkedIn; otherwise marry one of my many cousins and get an instant entrée into the personal side of my life.